Flood water surrounds homes in Chertsey, Surrey, as Royal Engineers were now being tasked to carry out a high-speed assessment of damage to the UK's flood defence infrastructure. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

2.40pm GMT

A Thames lock keeper whose job is due go as part of the temporarily delayed cuts at the Environment Agency has personally rescued two people in the last week, according to the GMB union.

Richard Hawkins, the resident Lock & Weir Keeper at Abingdon employed by the Environment Agency, raced into action at 7.30am on Saturday morning 15 February to rescue a boater who had fallen into the Thames. Richard then steered the 57’ narrow boat, which had come adrift from its mooring by the ferocity of the current, across the river, where he was able to secure the vessel safely. Only six days earlier Richard had rescued a young boy who had slipped into the flood waters and was in danger of being swept into the weir.

A woman pulls children in a dinghy near the Thames in Hurley. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

1.51pm GMT

Flooding outlook

River levels on the Thames and Severn are likely to rise again over the next few days, according to the Environment Agency.

Katharine Evans, the agency’s flood risk manager, suggested that the worst of the floods appeared to be over for now, but that exceptionally high levels of ground water could pose problems for months to come.

We’ve got further rainfall forecast, but it looks as if some of that is going to fall away from the places where we are having problems at the moment. We will certainly see rainfall push up river levels, particularly on the Thames and the Severn over the next two/three days, but we are not expecting them to be any worse than the ones we’ve seen previously.

Evans said high levels of ground water were causing significant problems in the south-west and south-east of England.

Kent, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset are all seeing problems of really high ground water which is either coming out of dry springs and turning those into rivers and coming out of the ground in various spots, or it is actually flowing into major rivers and causing those to rise. It is very widespread ... Ground water is one we are going to have to keep an eye on for weeks if not months.

In the case of the River Thames, it can take around two to three days for rain water in the upper part of the river to flow downstream to the lower part of the river.

So, in effect, the rising of the rivers during today and tomorrow will be as a result of the rain that fell a few days ago.

1.23pm GMT

David Cameron talks with residents during a visit to Upton-upon-Severn. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

1.12pm GMT

Dawlish

Devon and Cornwall police have released aerial images of the new damage to the seawall at Dawlish. They show that the row of rubble filled shipping containers used as makeshift barrier were battered by Friday’s storm but still in place.

Cameron said he will aim to visit every flood-hit area around the country “to try and learn lessons”. And he defended the government’s handling of the crisis and hit back at criticism that he was visiting places such as Upton-upon-Severn only after the damage had already been done.

PA quoted him saying:

I’ll try to get to every part of the country that’s been affected so that we can learn all the lessons. But here in Worcestershire we can recognise that the flood investment that went in after 2007 has made a real difference, with hundreds of properties protected.”

10.48am GMT

Amber warning for rain

The Met Office has issued another amber “be prepared” warning for rain in south-west England with up to 40mm expected in some already saturated areas.

It said:

Another spell of rain is expected across southwest England during Monday. This is not expected to be as prolonged or as heavy as in recent days but given the saturated ground, the public should be aware that this still has the potential either to lead to localised flooding or to exacerbate existing issues.

Rainfall totals of 10 to 15 mm seem likely quite widely and perhaps 30 to 40 mm locally, mainly over high ground in the west of the warning area.

Pressure on Owen Paterson

Greenpeace is calling for environment secretary Owen Paterson to be sacked over the decision to put flood defences on hold.

In the letter to David Cameron, Greenpeace chief executive John Sauven, said: “We believe very strongly that Owen Paterson is failing the responsibilities of his office and we need to see someone put in charge who believes in an evidence-led approach to climate change.”

The letter complained about the decision to cut flood defence budgets.

To highlight the issue Greenpeace moored a rowing boat with a spitting image style Owen Paterson puppet marooned on the Thames directly outside the Houses of Parliament.

Jimmy Aldridge, Greenpeace climate campaigner added: “Owen Paterson, has slashed the budget of the Environment Agency against the advice of his own experts, and delayed projects that could have protected more homes, businesses and farmland from flooding. Paterson’s not just incompetent, he’s irresponsible and dangerous.”

PM's fund for flood-hit businesses

It includes a £10m hardship fund, a relaxation of the penalties for the late filing of accounts, and a helpline.

Announcing the move Cameron said: “The government is taking action across the board to deal with the clear-up and help hard-working people affected by the floods.”

Updated at 10.40am GMT

9.11am GMT

Dawlish

New damage to the tide-battered seawall at Dawlish looks set to delay the reopening of the line until April, Network Rail has warned.

On Friday another exceptionally high tide disturbed some of the rubble-filled shipping containers set up as a makeshift tidal barrier where an 80m stretch propping up the main south-west rail line was washed away earlier this month.

Thames barrier

The Thames barrier is due to close for the 20th consecutive time today on its current record breaking run of tidal closures. John Curtin, the Environment Agency’s head of incident management, points out that this winter’s closures alone make up a quarter of total closures in the barrier’s 32 year history.

Miliband

Labour leader Ed Miliband has echoed his comments to the Observer about how the floods demonstrate what will happen if we don’t tackle climate change.

In an interview on ITV’s Daybreak programme, he said: “What I fear is if we don’t act this is just a grim foretaste of what’s going to come.”

The Observer reported Miliband saying: “The science is clear. The public know there is a problem. But, because of political division in Westminster, we are sleepwalking into a national security crisis on climate change.”

He also called for “decent people” in the Tory party and the Liberal Democrats to join the cause, “to come forward and say, we can’t have this ambivalence any more because it will be disastrous for this country”.